Hand rail for stairways



Dec. 15, 1964" A. o. AHO ETAL HAND RAIL FOR STAIRWAYS Filed Sept. 22, 1961 v/ mm M mr a ma m W N 10A m fi fiw u 0 N United States Patent Ofiice 3,161,425 Patented Dec. 15, 1964 3,161,425 7 HAND RAIL FOR STAIRWAYS Arvo Abs, Louisville, and'Delma R. Atherton, Pleasure Ridge, Ky., assignors to Logan o.-, Louisville, Ky., a corporation-of Kentucky Filed Sept. 22', 1 961, Ser; No, 149,101 2 Claims. (Cl. 28754) This'invention relates to a hand rail for Stairways.

It is the common practice to use wooden handrails adjacent stairways and to secure. them to supporting brackets attached to the. adjacent wall by screwing the brackets into the wall studs. Any suitable means such as a U-clamp surrounds theendrof the supporting bracket and is attached to the woodenrail by screws. Obviously, the supporting brackets can be arranged in any position for attachment to the studding of the wall andthe screws for attachingthe clampsto the wooden hand rail can be screwed thereinto at any point. Difiiculty has been encountered in replacing. the wooden rails with metallic rails since the clamps cannot be screwed very readily to metallic rails and it is necessary, where the attaching clamps are mounted, to especially drill openings through a metallic rail for the attachmentof. the rail to the supporting. brackets.

An important object ofthe present invention is to provide a novel type of hand rail for stairways of hollow metallic formation and which rail may be attached to supporting brackets which may be spaced any, distance apart. according to the spacing of the wallstudding, the connectingmeans being easily and readily attachable to the rail without drilling any openings therein.

A-further object is to provide such a structure wherein the supporting brackets may be spaced apart any distance according to the spacing of the wallstudding and wherein the rail may assume any inclination to the vertical and horizontal according to the. pitch of the stairway.

A further object is to providela novel hollow hand rail construction wherein the longitudinal edges of the metal forming the rail are spaced apart-to receivetherebetween the fasteningelements for attaching the rail to the brackets and wherein the spacing ofthe longitudinal edges of the material of the rail provides" a-slot to permit thesliding ofthe attaching cl-a-rnpsto any desired position according to the location of the brackets as determined by. the spacing ofthe studs.

A further object is to provide such a construction wherein the clamping means effectively clampsthe longitudinal edge portions of .the metal of the rail to prevent any spreading of such edge portions due to the placing of substantial'weight. at any point along ithe" top of the rail;

A further object is to provide a structure of this character wherein the fastening elements for attaching the rail to the bracket function not only to clamp the longitudinal edge portions of the material of the rail with respect to each other but also to clamp the rail in tight seating engagement with each bracket to effectively clamp the rail to the brackets.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing we have shown one embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a flight of stairs showing the hand rail in position on the adjacent wall, the wall studding being shown in dotted lines;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken transversely through the rail and associated elements in the plane of one of the brackets, such bracket being shown in elevation;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view on line 3--3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective View of one of the wall brackets and the associated clamping means, the parts being shown separated.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the numeral 10 designates a flightof stairs adjacent a vertical wall 11 which may be of any desired form, such as plaster supported by vertical studding 12. A hand rail indicated as a whole by the numeral 13 is-supported adjacent the wall and inclined from the vertical and horizontal to correspond to the pitch of the stairway. This rail is supported with respect to the wall 11-by supporting brackets each indicated as a whole by the numeral1'4, three of such brackets being shown in FIGURE l.

The brackets themselves may be conventional and include a vertical base plate15 attached by. screws" 16 passing through openings 17 formed in the base plate 15. The bracket further comprises a supporting arm 18' extending upwardly andoutwardly from the wall 11' and provided with an-attaching end'19 of circular cross section having an integral head 20 at its outer extremity.

The rail 13 is formed of sheet metahpreferably steel, and may be ornamentally shaped in cross section as shown in FIGUREVZ. The top of the rail is bulged upwardly as at 24 and is provided with opposite side portions 25 formed substantially semi-cylindrically as shown. From the bottoms of the latter rail portions, the'ma'terial of the rail at opposite sides extends horizontally inwardly as at 26 to form transversely spaced base portions, the inner extremities of Whichareco-planar, then vertically upwardly asv at 27: The lateral extremities of the material of the rail are then turned inwardly horizontally as at-ZS at'a point above the horizontal rail portions 26'; and the lateral extremities of the material' of the rail are spaced apart as viewed in FIGUREZ to form a slot 30 extending throughout the length of the rail. It will be noted that the horizontal rail portions 26 seaton the horizontal top of the bracket at opposite ends of the attaching portion19.

AU-shaped clamp indicated as a whole by the numeral 32 is provided with a semicircular bottom portion 33 which fitsaround the attaching, portion 19 ofthe bracket 14 and is adapted to rock at any angle with respect thereto. The clamp is-provided with upwardly extending parallel arms.35 providcdat their upper ends withoutstanding horizontal cars 36 each provided with an' opening 37 adapted for theinsertion therethrough of a screw 38.

Associated with each bracket 14' and within the rail 13:is arranged=a plate 40 of elongated rectangularshape as-shown in. FIGURE 4. This plate is provided with threadedv screw-receiving openings 41 v spaced apart the same distance as the openings 37 "to receivethe threaded ends of the screws 38 for securing the parts together.

To simplify the furnishing of the rails tocustomers, these rails are furnished in standard lengths and in purchasing one of the rails, the customer will select a rail of the length desired or the next longer rail. If the rail is too long, it may be readily cut to the proper length with a hack saw and the rail is furnished with caps 44 (FIGURE 1) corresponding in shape to the cross sectional shape of the rail and adapted to be snapped into the end thereof to form a finish for the railing. These caps form no part per se of the present invention.

Operation The parts of the device may be assembled in any suitable manner. Assuming that the rail is to extend across three studs 12, three brackets and clamping assemblies obviously will be employed. These elements may be assembled with respect to the rail before placing it in position on the wall. For example, one bracket with a U-clamp 32 extending around the attaching portion 19 may be placed in position, one of the plates 40 then may be inserted in the end of the rail and two screws 38 loosely applied so that the clamping assembly and associated bracket may slide endwise of the rail. The assembly initially loosely attached is slid along the rail and another assembly similarly attached to the rail, and this procedure is repeated for the third or any number of clamping assemblies.

The rail with the clamping assemblies and brackets loosely carried thereby is placed adjacent the wall and the brackets are attached to the respective studs 13 at the proper positions so that the inclination of the rail will correspond to the pitch of the stairway. The rail then may slide endwise to whatever position is desired, whereupon the operator will simply tighten the screws of each pair 38. This is all of the operation necessary in attaching the device to a wall.

It will be noted that the vertically extending rail portions 27 define a channel in which the heads of the screws 38 are arranged so that these screws are completely invisible. In view of the hollow upwardly bulged construction of the rail, the exertion of downward force on the top of the rail will tend to spread the rail portions 28. When the screws are tightened, however, these rail portions are rigidly fixed between the ears 36 and plate 40 and any spreading of the rail portions 28 accordingly is prevented. It also will be noted that the device is readily designed so that the rail portions 26 seat on the top of the bracket 14 on opposite sides of the attaching portion 19 with the semicircular bottom 33 of the bracket snugly fitting the attaching portion of the bracket. The tightening of the screws 38, therefore, not only clamps the rail portions 28 tightly with respect to each other as stated, but also creates a reaction force which pulls upwardly on the semicircular bracket portion 33 and downwardly on the rail portions 26 so as to rigidly clamp the rail against any movement whatever relative to the bracket 14.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present device is extremely simple in construction and economical to manufacture, and the device may be very quickly and easily attached to the wall and the clamping action between the rail and bracket efiected so that the parts are permanently attached to each other. No holes are drilled in the rail 13, the screws 38 extending loosely through the slot 30. Accordingly the attaching means and brackets may be moved longitudinally of the rail before the screws are tightened to accommodate the brackets to the spacing of the studs 12 no matter what such spacing may be. It also will be apparent that the rail may assume any angular position to the vertical and horizontal according to the pitch of the stairway. Accordingly it is not necessary to stock any different types of metal rails for stairways of different pitches or to drill holes in the 4 rail to receive attaching means according to the spacing of the studs. In fact it is unnecessary under any conditions to drill any holes through the rail for attaching the rail to studs of any spacing and to incline the rail at any desired angle.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of the parts may be made as do not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a hand rail for stairways, an integral supporting bracket having spaced top portions the upper extremities of which lie in a common plane, a hollow sheet metal rail spaced transversely to form top and side portions and then extending inwardly at the bottom of the rail to form transversely spaced base portions the inner extremities of which are co-planar and respectively seat directly on said top portions of said bracket, said rail at said inner extremities of said base portions extending upwardly into the rail to form spaced parallel walls, and then inwardly to form flat, relatively wide co-planar longitudinal edge portions terminating in spaced relation to each other to define therebetween a longitudinal slot, said parallel walls and said longitudinal edge portions forming a downwardly opening channel, said bracket between said top portions having a horizontal attaching portion of circular cross-section, a U-clamp extending around the bottom of said attaching portion and having end ears engaging the bottoms of said edge portions, and means lying above said base portions and partly within said channel and including an element engaging the tops of said edge portions for clamping said edge portions between said ears and said element in fixed relation to each other, and for clamping said base portions against said top portions of said bracket at spaced points beyond the respective ends of said attaching portion.

2. A hand rail according to claim 1 wherein said means comprises a plate above and engaging both of said longitudinal edge portions, and screws passing through said ears and through said slot and threaded in said plate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 148,725 3/74 Manly. 2,654,579 10/53 Cremens 256- X 2,820,613 1/58 Schilling 256-65 2,886,278 5/59 Opie 20-10 X 3,007,678 11/61 Buehler 256-65 3,026,080 3/62 Thurnauer 256-65 X HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM I. MUSHAKE, REINALDO P. MACHADO,

Examiners, 

1. IN A HAND RAIL FOR STAIRWAYS, AN INTEGRAL SUPPORTING BRACKET HAVING SPACED TOP PORTIONS THE UPPER EXTREMITIES OF WHICH LIE IN A COMMON PLANE, A HOLLOW SHEET METAL RAIL SPACED TRANSVERSELY TO FORM TOP AND SIDE PORTIONS AND THEN EXTENDING INWARDLY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RAIL TO FORM TRANSVERSELY SPACED BASE PORTIONS THE INNER EXTREMITIES OF WHICH ARE CO-PLANAR AND RESPECTIVELY SEAT DIRECTLY ON SAID TOP PORTIONS OF SAID BRACKET, SAID RAIL AT SAID INNER EXTREMITIES OF SAID BASE PORTIONS EXTENDING UPWARDLY INTO THE RAIL TO FORM SPACED PARALLEL WALLS, AND THEN INWARDLY TO FORM FLAT, RELATIVELY WIDE CO-PLANAR LONGITUDINAL EDGE PORTIONS TERMINATING IN SPACED RELATION TO EACH OTHER TO DEFINE THEREBETWEEN A LONGITUDINAL SLOT, SAID PARALLEL WALLS AND SAID LONGITUDINAL EDGE PORTIONS FORMING A DOWNWARDLY OPENING CHANNEL, SAID BRACKET BETWEEN SAID TOP PORTIONS HAVING A HORIZONTAL ATTACHING PORTION OF CIRCULAR CROSS-SECTION, A U-CLAMP EXTENDING AROUND THE BOTTOM OF SAID ATTACHING PORTIONS AND HAVING END EARS ENGAGING THE BOTTOMS OF SAID EDGE PORTIONS, AND MEANS LYING ABOVE SAID BASE PORTIONS AND PARTLY WITHIN SAID CHANNEL AND INCLUDING AN ELEMENT ENGAGING THE TOPS OF SAID EDGE PORTIONS FOR CLAMPING SAID EDGE PORTIONS BETWEEN SAID EARS AND SAID ELEMENT IN FIXED RELATION TO EACH OTHER, AND FOR CLAMPING SAID BASE PORTIONS AGAINST SAID TOP PORTIONS OF SAID BRACKET AT SPACED POINTS BEYOND THE RESPECTIVE ENDS OF SAID ATTACHING PORTION. 